BTS 47-05
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Contact: Dave Smallen
Tel.: (202) 366-5568

BTS Releases August Passenger Airline Employment Data;
August 2005 Employment Down 5.4 Percent from August 2004

U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 446,051 workers in August 2005, 5.4 percent fewer than in August 2004, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 1).

BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported that the seven network carriers employed 296,537 total full-time and part-time workers – 8.6 percent fewer workers in August 2005 than a year earlier (Table 2). The low-cost carriers reported 74,927 total employees, 0.2 percent fewer than August 2004 (Table 3); and the regional carriers reported 60,869 total employees, 3.7 percent more than the previous year (Table 4).

August was the eighth consecutive month of year-over-year declines in airline employment levels for the scheduled passenger carriers since BTS began tracking the numbers. But part-time employee numbers continued to grow modestly with a 0.1 percent increase in August.

Many regional carriers were not required to report employment numbers before 2003, so year-to-year comparisons involving regional carriers as a group, or the full industry, are not appropriate for earlier years. BTS is providing pre-2003 comparisons for network and low-cost carriers, as well as pre-2003 numbers for individual regional carriers that were required to report in earlier years.

Airlines that operate at least one aircraft with the capacity to carry combined passengers, cargo and fuel of 18,000 pounds – the payload factor – must report monthly employment statistics.

Numbers for Independence Air, which changed its business model from a regional to low-cost carrier in mid-2004, have been included with low-cost carriers for 2003, 2004 and 2005. This change reflects that carrier’s current business model as a low-cost operator.

Using Full-Time Equivalent Employees (FTE) calculations, employment at network carriers in August dropped 35.9 percent from 2001 to 2005. The biggest declines were at US Airways, down 52.1 percent; and United Airlines, down 44.1 percent (Table 5). In FTE calculations, part-time workers are counted as one-half of a full-time employee.

The seven low-cost carriers, excluding Independence, that were required to report employment data in 2001 and 2005 employed 11.3 percent more FTEs in August 2005 than in August 2001 (Table 6).

The seven regional carriers that were required to report employment data in 2001 and 2005 employed 8.8 percent more FTEs in August 2005 than in August 2001. Of that group, only Horizon Air reported fewer FTE employees in August 2005 than August 2001 (Table 7).

In this release, Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4 use total numbers for full-time and part-time employees, while employee numbers in Tables 5, 6, 7 and 8 show FTEs.

The 5.7 percent drop in FTEs was the eighth consecutive month of year-over-year declines in airline employment levels for the scheduled passenger carriers, and it was the largest decrease for that period. It was also the fifth consecutive month with a year-to-year decline of more than 3 per cent (Table 8).

Network carriers operate a significant portion of their flights using at least one hub where connections are made for flights to down-line destinations or spoke cities. Low-cost carriers are those that the industry generally recognizes as operating under a low-cost business model with fewer infrastructure costs.

Regional carriers provide service from small cities, using primarily regional jets to support the network carriers’ hub and spoke systems.

The Other Carrier category generally reflects those airlines that operate within specific niche markets such as Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines in serving the Hawaiian Islands.

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers as of Oct. 12.

Additional airline employment data can be found on the BTS website at
http://www.bts.gov/programs/airline_information/number_of_employees/. BTS has scheduled release of September airline employment data for Nov. 15.

Table 7: Regional Carrier FTE Employees, August 2000-2004*

(Ranked by August 2005 FTE Employees)

 Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Note: Many regional carriers were not required to report employment numbers before 2003 so year-to-year comparisons involving regional carriers as a group, or the full industry, are not appropriate for earlier years. 

Note: Detail may not add to total due to rounding

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count part-time workers as one-half of a full-time employee.

** Total numbers for carriers operating in 2005.

N/A: Carriers did not meet the standard for filing.

Table 8: Change in FTE Employees from the Previous Year*

Percentage change compared to same month the previous year

 Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

* Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count part-time workers as one-half of a full-time employee.

**Employment numbers in 2003, 2004 and 2005 for Independence Air, which changed its business model from a regional to low-cost carrier in mid-2004, are included with low-cost carriers.

*** Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers.

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